Chad Cosse prepares for move with Rebels football

After "disappointing" 2011, impressive offseason, Flintridge Prep's senior is looking to make impact in new spot

August 27, 2012|By Andrew Shortall, andrew.shortall@latimes.com

Chad Cosse is moving from guard to tight end on offense… (Cheryl A. Guerrero/Staff…)

Chad Cosse has been a part of deep CIF Southern Section Division playoff runs and even a Division V-AA title with the Flintridge Prep boys' volleyball and basketball teams, respectively.

The three-sport athlete has yet to make the playoffs or even come close to a winning season with the Rebels football team, which is 3-14-1 since 2010. Still, Cosse doesn't hesitate when asked what his favorite sport is.

"Football, definitely. … It's just the team aspect, one guy just can't take over," Cosse explained. "You have to trust in everyone and everyone has to do their role or you won't be successful."

It may be Cosse's favorite, but that doesn't mean last football season — in which Prep went 1-8 and forfeited two games due to its 18-man roster being bombarded with injuries — doesn't leave a bad taste in his mouth.

Cosse describes last year as "just unfortunate and disappointing," but, ironically enough, everything that came along with it helped cement football as his favorite sport.

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"It's because of what we've been through," Cosse said of his team. "It's been a tighter-knit group of people. No one can say we've been through what we've been through. It just brings us closer together, I wouldn't really change it for anything."

Now the senior is looking to help the Rebels turn it around in 2012.

Flintridge Prep Coach Antonio Harrison is looking to put Cosse in the best situation to do so by shifting him from left guard to tight end on offense and from the defensive line to middle linebacker.

"He's gotten bigger, stronger, faster, quicker, so all we're just trying to do is put him in situations to be successful and I figured those would be the best places for him," Harrison said.

Of course, Cosse's physical abilities haven't developed overnight. Harrison said he put in tons of work in the weight room and studying the game in the offseason, attending two-a-day workouts with the football team, while juggling classes and basketball or volleyball.

"I think between sophomore and junior year he put on 20 pounds in the summer and just got huge and it hasn't slowed down from there," Prep quarterback Clayton Weirick said. "He's the biggest guy on our team probably and it doesn't mean he lacks any speed or coordination, he beats us in sprints. He's all over the place because he works so hard."

It's that work ethic that's made Cosse a leader on the team.

"They look to him and they respect him," Harrison said. "He makes them work and he makes them better."